I am a pilgrim far from home,
A wanderer like Mars,
And thought my wanderings ne’er should come,
So fixed behind the bars!

In 1910, after a 1,200-mile journey on foot and on freight trains from Indianapolis to pursue his dream of attending Harvard University, Edward Smyth Jones was arrested for vagrancy in Boston, Massachusetts. Born in 1881 in Mississippi to former slaves, Jones honed his writing skills while studying and working, and had a book of poems published by the time he arrived in Boston. After his release from jail, Jones found support from the African-American lawyer Clement Morgan and William Henry Holtzclaw, who founded the all-black Utica Institute in Mississippi. Working as a janitor at Harvard allowed Jones to attend the Boston Latin School for a time, but his funds were insufficient to continue, and he had to abandon his hopes of attending Harvard. He moved on to New York and then Chicago, working first as a waiter and then as a labourer until his death in 1968.

Throughout the course of his life, poet Edward Smyth Jones faces an uphill battle through the oppression that the institutions of the world hold against men of his race. As the obstacles surmount and things begin to seem hopeless, he turns to the written word to find solace in his experience - finding meaning in his struggle and passing down the story of his life in order to teach future generations how to find comfort in a life hindered by inexplicable prejudices.

This striking collage-style animation from the Canadian filmmaker and artist Neely Goniodsky brings new life to Jones’s little-known poem Behind the Bars – eight sharply rendered quatrains on prejudice, institutional oppression and his quest for a better, nobler life.

[video:https://vimeo.com/199041676]

most everybody’s
running from something
sometimes life is scary
feeling the left behind lost
from last night’s dreams
with yesterday’s tomorrows
as today’s tightrope

in a mind between shadows
those things they do call
or don’t call demons
taunt in silent loudness
from behind the curtains
they don’t call closets

— John Trudell,

John Trudell was a poet, recording artist, actor and speaker whose international following reflects the universal language of his words, work and message.

[video:https://youtu.be/5rILOiAPjAo]

Well it looks like it might be a hard road,
but I’m gonna walk it with you
And I know you might have a heavy load,
but I can carry some too
I will lift you up when they push you down,
I will raise my voice and stand my ground
Well it looks like it might be a hard road,
but I’m gonna walk it with you

Well it looks like it might be a long night,
but I ain’t goin’ nowhere
And I know it’s gonna be a hard fight,
but I will stay right here
I will shine a light in the darkest hour,
I will face the man in the tallest tower
Well it looks like it might be a long night,
but I ain’t goin’ nowhere

I will work! I will fight! I will strive in the name love
I will speak! I will shout! I will sing it to the skies above

Well it looks like it might be a perilous climb,
but I will follow your lead
And I know it might be a long time until the last one of us is freed
But I will hold on tight, stay by your side,
I will be with you for this whole damn ride
Well it looks like it might be a perilous climb,
but I will follow your lead

Well it looks like it might be a hard road,
but I’m gonna walk it with you
And I know you might have a heavy load,
but I can carry some too
I will lift you up when they push you down,
I will raise my my voice and stand my ground
Well it looks like it might be a hard road,
but I’m gonna walk it with you
I’m gonna walk it with you
I’m gonna walk it with you

I will walk!
I will climb!
shine my light the whole night through
Because it looks like it might be a hard road,
but I’m gonna walk it with you

[video:https://youtu.be/c8boCrXOp9M]

So here we are ... living another Tuesday together.

1862 - Forces under the command of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote capture Fort Henry, Tennessee, in the Battle of Fort Henry, giving the Union its first victory of the Civil War.

1937 - John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the story of the bond between two migrant workers, is published. He adapted the book into a three-act play, which was produced the same year. The story brought national attention to Steinbeck’s work, which had started to catch on in 1935 with the publication of his first successful novel, Tortilla Flat.

1966 - Accompanied by his leading political and military advisers, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Cao Ky in Honolulu. The talks concluded with issuance of a joint declaration in which the United States promised to help South Vietnam “prevent aggression,” develop its economy, and establish “the principles of self-determination of peoples and government by the consent of the governed.” Johnson declared: “We are determined to win not only military victory but victory over hunger, disease, and despair.” He announced renewed emphasis on “The Other War”–the effort to provide the South Vietnamese rural population with local security, and economic and social programs to win over their active support. In his final statement on the discussions, Johnson warned the South Vietnamese that he would be monitoring their efforts to build democracy, improve education and health care, resettle refugees and reconstruct South Vietnam’s economy.

1982 - Civil rights workers begin a march from Carrolton to Montgomery, Alabama. A small band of Southern civil rights workers, followed by nearly 300 sympathizers, began a 140-mile march in support of the Federal Voting Rights Act and in protest against the vote fraud conviction here of two black political activists.

The marchers left at noon. About four and a half hours later, they reached Aliceville and paraded down the city's main street before an audience of well-wishers, blacks and whites alike. Later they gathered at a community center where they were treated to diner by supporters.

Along the way they protest the convictions of Julia Wilder, 69 years old, and Maggie Bozeman, 51, on charges of mishandling absentee ballots solicited from elderly, illiterate blacks. Both women pleaded not guilty. An all-white jury gave the two women the sternest sentences for a vote fraud conviction in recent Alabama history, the maximum five years for Mrs. Wilder and four years for Mrs. Bozeman.

2018 - German workers win a key victory in their fight for a better work-life balance when a big employers’ group agreed to demands from the country’s largest trade union for the introduction of a 28-hour working week.

The agreement between IG Metall, which represents a wide swath of industrial workers, and the Südwestmetall employers’ federation, shows how unions in Germany, that for years have been a model of wage restraint, are flexing their muscles in ways more typical of organised labour in France, home of the 35-hour working week. https://m.facebook.com/groups/10048786795?view=permalink&id=101560746257...?

Okay, time to move on to two of my favorite singer-songwriters: I give you Iris Dement and Greg Brown

And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Up the street beside that red neon light,
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night.
He was the tender and I ordered a beer,
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here.

But you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss.
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist.
Over there is where I bought my first car.
It turned over once but then it never went far.

And I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.
I bring them flowers about every day,
but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say.

If they could see how the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes.
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul.

But I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye,
But I'll hold to my lover,
'Cause my heart's 'bout to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.

[video:https://youtu.be/b9IUj1mDENg]

Everybody's wonderin' what and where
They all came from
Everybody's worryin' 'bout where they're gonna go
When the whole thing's done
But no one knows for certain and so it's all the same to me
I think I'll just let the mystery be

Some say once gone you're gone forever
And some say you're gonna come back
Some say you rest in the arms of the Savior
If in sinful ways you lack
Some say that they're comin' back in a garden
Bunch of carrots and little sweet peas
I think I'll just let the mystery be

Everybody's wonderin' what and where
They all came from
Everybody's worryin' 'bout where they're gonna go
When the whole thing's done
But no one knows for certain and so it's all the same to me
I think I'll just let the mystery be

Some say they're goin' to a place called Glory
And I ain't saying it ain't a fact
But I've heard that I'm on the road to Purgatory
And I don't like the sound of that
I believe in love and I live my life accordingly
But I choose to let the mystery be

Everybody is wondering what and where
They all came from
Everybody is worryin' 'bout where they're gonna go
When the whole thing's done
But no one knows for certain and so it's all the same to me
I think I'll just let the mystery be
I think I'll just let the mystery be

[video:https://youtu.be/8KLNM99paPg?t=4]

Down by the river junior year
Walking with my girl,
And we came upon a place
There in the tall grass where a couple
Had been making love
And left the mark of their embrace.
I said to her, "Looks like they had some fun."
She said to me, "Let's do the same."
And still I taste her kisses
And her freckles in the sun
When I play the poet game.

A young man down in hill country
In the year of '22
Went to see his future bride.
She lived in a rough old shack
That poverty blew through.
She invited him inside.
She'd been cooking, ashamed and feeling sad,
She could only offer him bread and her name -
Grandpa said that it was the best gift
A fella ever had
And he taught me the poet game.

I had a friend who drank too much
And played too much guitar -
And we sure got along.
Reel-to-reels rolled across
The country near and far
With letters poems and songs..
But these days he don't talk to me
And he won't tell me why.
I miss him every time i say his name.
I don't know what he's doing
Or why our friendship died
While we played the poet game.

The fall rain was pounding down
On an old New Hampshire mill
And the river wild and high.
I was talking to her while leaves blew down
Like a sudden chill -
There was wildness in her eyes.
We made love like we'd been waiting
All of our lives for this -
Strangers know no shame -
But she had to leave at dawn
And with a sticky farewell kiss
Left me to play the poet game.

I watched my country turn into
A coast-to-coast strip mall
And I cried out in a song:
If we could do all that in thirty years,
Then please tell me you all -
Why does good change take so long?
Why does the color of your skin
Or who you choose to love
Still lead to such anger and pain?
And why do I think it's any help
For me to still dream of
Playing the poet game?

Sirens wail above the fields -
Another soul gone down -
Another Sun about to rise.
I've lost track of my mistakes,
Like birds they fly around
And darken half of my skies.
To all of those I've hurt -
I pray you'll forgive me.
I to you will freely do the same.
So many things I didn't see,
With my eyes turned inside,
Playing the poet game.

I walk out at night to take a leak
Underneath the stars -
Oh yeah that's the life for me.
There's Orion and the Pleiades
And I guess that must be Mars -
All as clear as we long to be.
I've sung what I was given -
Some was bad and some was good.
I never did know from where it came
And if I had it all to do again
I am not sure I would
Play the poet game.

[video:https://youtu.be/n1NPymHhkD0?t=10]

Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill the railroad bum was fighting for his life
And the sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal.

No warm lights flickered round him no blankets there to hold
Nothing but the howling wind the driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay.
Hey ho-bo Bill.

Outside the rain was falling on the lonely boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay dead upon the floor
While the train sped through the darkness with the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride
Hey ho-bo Bill...

[video:https://vimeo.com/14400343]

Come along, my dear, the time is growin' near,
We'll have to walk down where the field is overgrown.
Consumption has claimed his life and we dare not miss the sight,
Of the train carrying Jimmie Rodgers home.

Well, we had some hard times these last few years,
Lost the farm, almost lost our spirits, too.
Yeah, but it's the strangest thing; when we heard that man sing,
Oh, we knew somehow we'd make it through.

I can hear that whistle blow; that old train is rollin' slow,
Sounds like it's cryin' for the singin' brakeman, too.
Back to the sunny south he'll go, and he'll never roam no more,
Here's the train, oh hold me close, oh sweetheart do.

Come here my little fella and let me hold you up.
I want you to remember this day when you're grown.
How your mama and your dad were so proud and so sad,
Watchin' the train carrying Jimmie Rodgers home.

There goes the train carrying Jimmie Rodgers home.

[video:https://youtu.be/sSWqPQ9kKTw]

Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars
So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
and we call ourselves the advanced civilization
that sounds like crap to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess
who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test
but if you ask them, they can tell you
the name of every crotch on mTV
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win
Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin
but he's standing up for what he believes in
and that seems pretty damned American to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

While we sit gloating in our greatness
justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free

[video:https://youtu.be/hhgb9hYjX3g]

A certain man one day did go down to Jericho
Fallin' among thieves along the way
Well they stripped him then they fled
Leaving him for dead
Lying on the side of the road

And then the priest came passing by
He crossed over to the other side
Then the Levite came and he did just the same

When the Samaritan heard his cry
He just could not pass on by
He dressed his wounds and he carried to the nearest inn

Well he reached down, he reached down
He got right there on the ground
He reached down, he reached down
And he touched the pain

He paid the keeper the amount that was due
If you need more he said I'm good for that too
He reached down, he reached down
And he touched the pain

And then the Scribes in the Pharicese
Brought the adultress in for Jesus to see
Lord, she's sinned, now the law says she must be stoned
If there's a one of you that's without sin
Said you can cast the first stone in
One by one they left, leaving Jesus and the woman alone

Well he reached down, he reached down
He got right there on the ground
He reached down, he reached down
And he touched the pain

He paid the keeper the amount that was due
If you need more he said I'm good for that too
He reached down, he reached down
And he touched the pain

Well no accusers are left that I see
And Woman, neither do I condemn thee
He reached down, he reached down
And he touched the pain

In the Bible a story is told
About a traveler at the end of life's road
He's at the gates of the Kingdom and the Master says "Come on in"
For I was hungry and you gave me meat
I was cold you put shoes on my feet
When I was in prison there was you who come to see about me

Well you reached down, you reached down
You got right there on the ground
You reached down, you reached down
And you touched my pain

When you're debted to the least of these
He said you were doin' it unto me
You reached down, you reached down
And you touched my pain

Well he reached down, he reached down
And he touched the pain

[video:https://youtu.be/WSsYJd5PxZo]

Now it's your turn. What's going on in your corner of the world?